


Sweet Tooth

by orphan_account



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Office, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-23 08:11:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6110458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oh Sehun doesn’t have an affinity for anything sweet but for some reason he keeps going back to the little bakery across the street.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Tooth

**Author's Note:**

> This work is pure fluff. Something short and simple and maybe a little cliché but a definite stress-reliever to write.

It’s a little past his lunch time when Jongdae knocks on the side of his cubicle. Sehun looks up from the papers in surprise and squints at the neon yellow blazer his colleague is wearing. He rubs at his eyes to get the letters and numbers out of his vision but it seems like they were burned onto his inner eyelids because he still sees them whenever he blinks.

His desk is strewn with papers, a stack of matching files are sitting on the edge of his workspace and an avalanche of folders had knocked over his pen holder. He isn’t quite sure which file he’s looking over right now and the impending migraine throbbing beneath his temples are worrying.

Jongdae offers a little help by restacking the fallen folders, earning a mumbled gratitude from Sehun. He gingerly picks up one of the papers and examines it, though he losses interest in it rather quickly and instead glances at the occupied male.

“You do know that it’s almost one thirty, right?” says Jongdae with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Sehun curses when he confirms the time stamp on his computer. He had been so wrapped up in his work ー reorganizing all the files from the year before just because his boss suddenly decided to give him more work to do ー that he doesn’t even realize the time. There is only fifteen minutes left on the clock for his only lunch break and he made the mistake of not buying something earlier beforehand.

He sits there glaring at the clock, contemplating on whether he should buy something to snack on from the convenience store a few blocks down or skip lunch all together. However, his stomach grumbles at the thought of food and there’s no way he could last until the evening.

Jongdae sees the dejacted look on his face and frowns. “Sorry, man. I didn’t realize you were still in here when I went for lunch.”

“It’s fine,” Sehun sighs as he searches through his unorganized drawers for his wallet. He finds it under a pile of this morning’s failed printouts. “It’s my own fault for not noticing the time. Thanks for telling me.”

His co-worker perks up with a smile while he rushes to find his phone and gather the papers in a pile. “Get going. I’ll help you tidy things up a little.”

“Thanks, dude. I owe you one.”

The older male gives him a pat on the back as he hurries past him towards the elevator with a sigh. He’s out of the building in under three minutes and is instantly met with the scorching heat of the midday’s rays.

Sehun runs his fingers through his hair as he curses at the warm weather. There is no way he’s going to walk to the convenience store in this heat. He’ll melt before he gets there plus sweat stains are not attractive at all.

A blur of color catches his eyes from across where he’s standing. A vintage sign dangles above the paneled window of a bakery showcasing dozens of pastries in a variety of choices. Sehun is quite sure the quaint little bakery must be new because he’s never seen it before but it’s hard to tell with the old vintage design that made up the small pastry shop.

Maybe it had always been there but he’s just never took notice of it before. Either way Sehun hopes it sells savory pastries as well as good coffee because with the way things are looking today, he might have to work overtime to get the sudden workload done.

The inside of the bakery is as vintage as the exterior. Nothing seems to come from a matching set, from the furnitures to the decorations. He eyes one particular floral printed chair that looks like it belongs back in the eighties with it’s faded green surface and pink flowers.

Jazz music plays from a gramophone by the corner next to a very hideous lamp. A pot of ivies sit on top of a discoloring bookshelf, it’s vines and leaves cascading down the side of the furniture like a waterfall.

“Hello,” a voice greets from behind the cashier. Sehun turns away from the box of vinyl records to the man and immediately feels his heart’s irregular beats.

It’s like he lost his vocal chords along with all form of intelligence as he stands there gaping at the stunning male like a goldfish. He must look pretty stupid because the man laughs, the corners of his honey brown eyes crinkling.

“Can I help you?”

He nods dumbly and somehow magically manages to will his feet to carry him towards the ordering counter without tripping and embarrassing himself. The man looks breathtaking up close. Sehun’s mouth feels dry and any train of thoughts that aren’t about how enchanting and beautiful the creature before him is cease to exist in his mind.

“Uh.” Is the first thing that escapes his mouth.  _How eloquent_ , Sehun thinks with a grimace. He wonders where all his suaveness went, not that he had a lot of it to begin with.

Fortunately, the beautiful man ー that seems to be the only description Sehun deems fit for him ー doesn’t seem to mind his lack of charm. He waits patiently for Sehun to make his choice but truth be told everything looked like it could give you cavities with one bite.

He ends up buying a custard pie under the male’s recommendation but it turns out to be a little too sweet for him after all.

 

* * *

 

“Do you need help ordering?” asks the blonde male on his third visit. He moves to stand behind the showcase counter with a happy smile and Sehun can’t help but return it. “I can recommend a few best sellers to you.”

Sehun nods again, not trusting his voice to not crack when he speaks, and tears his gaze away from the gorgeous male. He lets his gaze drop to the various types of pastries behind the glossy showcase next to the counter and admires how appealing everything seems.

Today, the male is wearing a faded apron over his clothes, however he’s missing a name tag. Sehun sighs internally and wonders if it would be too weird to ask for his name on their third meeting, though the thought dissipates quickly in favor of focusing on the gorgeous brown-eyed male as he talks.

“Okay. How about a Dulce de leche this time?”

Sehun responds with an intelligent ‘uh’ as he racks his brain for any information on said dessert but he comes up empty. Thankfully the male doesn’t laugh at him this time. Instead he points to a tray of something drowned in caramel. His teeth aches just at the sight of it and that has probably translated onto his face because the male frowns.

“No? Um, how about a glazed cheese pound cake then?” The blonde male says. Sehun doesn’t even know which cake he’s talking about because he’s distracted by the shape of the man’s lips. “It’s a new dessert I just added to the menu today. I took extra care with the cheese so it’ll be so smooth that it basically melts on your tongue.”

Sehun takes a look at the cake the blonde pointed out and his mouth falls open. “You made this?”

The man stares at him in surprise before he’s full out laughing, taking Sehun aback. “So you do talk!”

He feels his ears heat up helplessly at that and discreetly avoids the other’s shinning eyes.

“I make ninety percent of the desserts we sell here. It’s a pain in the neck sometimes but it’s what I love doing,” the baker says as he leans against the counter top. “My friend and business partner makes the other five percent while the rest of the percentage is us being lazy and buying ready-made cookies that we just ice and assemble.”

Sehun gathers up the courage to speak but he can’t as he meets the other man’s eyes. It’s a nostalgic feeling, like he’s back to being a freshman in high school again trying to talk to his first real crush. It’s pathetic.

He’s a grown man now for goodness sake. He should be able to hold a normal conversation like a normal person but he just had to be an idiot instead.

“Would you like to be the first one to try it? I promise it won’t disappoint.”

The pound cake ー or was it a cheese cake? ー looks like it’s teetering off sugar lane with all the glaze practically dripping off the one tiny slice. But the male seems so hopeful that he can’t possibly say no even though it feels like his teeth is already rotting from imagining how sweet it’s going to be.

He buys it anyways and gives it to Jongdae for the third time that week after just one taste because how can anyone possibly enjoy something so teeth-decayingly sweet?

Apparently Kim Jongdae.

 

* * *

 

He learns the stunning baker’s name on the fifth trip to the quaint little shop. It’s a week later and the blonde male had been laughing with a tall guy in dark sunglasses when Sehun enters through the door.

The baker greets him with a smile before he is shoving the sunglass wearing male to the side. Sehun is surprised when they start to converse in rapid Mandarin Chinese.

The baker had been so fluent in Korean ー he doesn’t even have the slightest accent ー that Sehun had automatically assumed he’s native. He wonders if the language is supposed to sound like a gushing river or if they were just talking a little too fast because it sounds like a jumbled, gibberish mess.

“Fine,” the guy with the sunglass huffs a moment later in Korean, looking dejacted. “I’ll see you later, Luhan.”

Sehun doesn’t realize when the stranger leaves because he’s repeating the gorgeous baker’s name over and over again in his mind with a stupid smile on his face. He’s curious as to how the name will sound if he says it.

Will it have an awkward ring to it because it’s a foreign name? Or will it sound as beautiful as the person the name belongs to? He doesn’t get an answer to his musings because he’s too much of a coward.

It’s silent, except for the soft music playing from the gramophone. It’s jazz again. That seems to be the only music that’s always playing.

“We never really introduced ourselves, did we?” Luhan’s voice cuts through his thoughts, dragging him back to reality. He shakes his head. “I’m Luhan. And you are?”

“Oh Sehun.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Sehun?” Joonmyun says as he leans against his cubicle. “Where did you buy the strawberry shortcake for Jongdae last Friday? It tasted amazing.”

He tears his attention away from his computer screen to regard his supervisor with tired eyes. “The bakery across the street from our building.”

Joonmyun raises both eyebrows. “There’s a bakery across from us? Since when?”

Sehun shrugs because he honestly has no clue. He goes back to his work as Joonmyun leaves, a certain blonde baker occupying his mind for the rest of the day.

 

* * *

 

He meets Kim Minseok, Luhan’s friend and business partner, a month later. It’s six in the evening after work on Thursday. His parents want to pay him a visit so he decides to buy a cake for them.

He knows how much his mother loves desserts and he’s an attentive son.

He rushes to the bakery as fast as he can because he knows it’s almost closing hour. He almost knocks over Jongdae on his way out but the man just laughs because he knows. He knows who Sehun’s rushing off to but doesn’t say.

Before he reaches for the handle of the shop, Sehun runs his fingers through his hair as an attempt to fix it from his run and then he pushes the door open.

“Hello.” A man calls out when he enters the bakery. He’s sitting behind the counter, a magazine in front of him. “Oh. You must be Sehun.”

It’s the first time he’s not greeted by Luhan’s smiling face and Sehun tries to keep the disappointment at bay.

He nods and steps into the store cautiously. “Yes, I am. You are?”

The man stands and leans over the counter with an extended hand and an eager smile. Sehun moves quickly to shake the offered hand.

“Kim Minseok. It’s nice to finally meet you after all the stories I heard from Luhan.”

He flushes at that and smiles without realizing. “He talks about me?”

Minseok smiles, eyes bright. “Always.”

 

* * *

 

“What’s with you and jazz?” Sehun flips through the vinyl records in the cardboard box by the gramophone.

It’s late afternoon and the sunlight filters through the paneled window, painting the shop with bright natural light.

He hears Luhan sigh from the counter. “I liked you better when you were too shy to talk.”

Sehun smiles to himself and picks up a random record to inspect. “So you like me?”

Luhan laughs. The sound filling the bakery and Sehun’s heart with warmth.

“Wow. You are so full of yourself.”

Sehun frowns and stalks over to the counter in three wide strides. “So you don’t like me?”

Luhan rolls his eyes because they’ve gone through this before at least a hundred times. Sehun is pouting again like an overgrown child, his dark eyebrows furrowed together and eyes locked on him.

Luhan chuckles and leans across the counter to kiss the pout away. He smiles against chapped lips and stares into Sehun’s shimmering eyes.

“Who wouldn’t like an idiot?” And Sehun grins.

 


End file.
